This invention relates to novel chemical compounds active as inhibitors of elastase, rendering said compounds useful in the treatment of emphysema, pancreatitis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Elastase has been identified as playing a significant role in the etiology of a number of biological activities including emphysema of lung tissue, pancreatitis and arthritis. See, for example, Joseph Bieth et al., Biochemical Medicine 11, 350-357 (1974); Conrad P. Dorn et al., J. of Medicinal Chemistry 20, 1464-1468 (1977); and Cedric H. Hassall, Bioorganic Chemistry 8, 299-309 (1979). Compounds that are known to be inhibitors of elastase have been identified as having utility in the treatment of emphysema, rheumatoid arthritis and pancreatitis. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,029,772, 4,153,688 and 4,176,116.
The present invention provides a new series of fluoromethylated elastase inhibitors and chemical intermediates useful in the preparation of said inhibitors.